Background

K C Engineering is a specialist manufacturing and refurbishment business for OEM’s and operators of rotating equipment for whitemetal lined bearings and sealing components. Based in County Durham they were facing increasing pressure from their customers as delivery performance suffered whilst their order book grew both in volume and complexity.

Smartspeed was brought in to look at alternative ways of managing their business so that the increased workload could be delivered on time with the current levels of resources employed by the business.

What I did

  • I ran a series of workshops where the processes that drive the business were understood, pulled apart and re-configured to give a higher level of performance.
  • Implemented additional Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to help drive the right behaviours within the business.
  • Raised the already established standards of performance for specific areas of the business to further improve customer service levels.
  • Introduced short daily meetings for the Admin and Operations functions of the business and for the Production areas, developing disciplines and routines within the business to improve communication and performance.

Results

  • On Time Delivery increased by 25%.
  • Communication across the business was noted to have improved through the use of short standardised meetings.
  • Internal delivery schedule adherence improved by over 75% (reducing last minute rush to complete work on time).
  • Average admin lead time reduced from 5 days to 1 day at the front end of the business.

What the client said

“Smartspeed came to our aid as the order book was rising even faster than overdue work. Helping us focus on the core issues and getting a new common sense approach to product flow improved output – excellent results from a brief intervention – highly recommended to any business.”

Dr Keith Chester, Managing Director

K C Engineering Ltd